Akeil
Philadelphia-based artist Akeil Robertson is an artist in transition. As a black artist who found his artistic voice in the American Criminal Legal System, Akeil is often drawn to explore and
delve into what the repercussions of criminalization means for his practice and his life. Rejecting the traditional binaries in stories of Black Excellence and Hood Narratives, Akeil’s work seeks
alternative ways of framing his and others' trauma. He challenges us to find new ways to tell stories that don’t fit into the traditional mold of black being depicted and marketed for
consumption.
His work has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer (2023), “Reading Works'' by Xaveria Simmons (2022), and he was Artist in Residence at Haverford College’s Visual, Culture, Arts
and Media Center (2023). Currently, Akeil is exhibiting a series of original photographs called “Blues” that depict his thoughts on the US parole system and critique the American history of
anti-blackness as a part of the "Wherever there is Light" fellowship at Tilt Institute for the Contemporary Image (2024).
Akeil is currently Director of the Graterford archive project, an initiative to tell the history of Graterford Prison through the voices of the Graterford Diaspora; a conception of the prison community that includes all of those who have lived in or been touched by the prison including formerly incarcerated people, staff, volunteers, and affected families. The work of building the archive emerged from Akeil’s memory work of holding and sharing the work of the men at and history of the community of Graterford.
KeWee
La’Keisha “KeWee” Roselle is a co-founder of The Black Rose Collective (TBRC), an organization rooted in healing, education, and liberation. The name itself reflects her belief that soil, seed, and soul mirror the human spirit; that even under pressure, beauty and resilience can grow. Like the black rose, KeWee carries the weight of struggle yet represents new beginnings, hope, and the power of transformation.
In 2018, after surviving 13.5 years of incarceration, KeWee was legally liberated. Her family’s story; marked by four generations of incarceration, poverty, addiction, and systemic oppression, fuels her commitment to break cycles of harm and to heal generational wounds. She believes, “People don’t change, they heal. And when people heal, systems change.”
Today, KeWee leads in multiple spaces: as Director of Multi-Systems Development and Community Support Specialist for TBRC and as Liberation Scholars Program Lead with the Evergreen Liberation Education Network.
A graduate of The Evergreen State College, she is also a co-founder of the Freedom Education Project of Puget Sound (FEPPS), and a co-founder and alumna of The Womxn’s Village, where collective liberation and personal excellence meet.
Her work has included co-creating reintegration curriculum for incarcerated youth and women, creating holistic and culturally rooted healing curriculum for currently incarcerated and legally liberated individuals, becoming a nationally certified Credible Messenger, and training in resilience, healing, and violence prevention. But above all, KeWee is a storyteller, a liberation activist, and a mother whose daily practice of patience, gentleness, and love reflects the future she is building for her child and community.
She is passionate about dismantling oppressive systems, amplifying the brilliance of legally liberated people, and creating spaces where healing is not only possible but inevitable.
As Alice Walker reminds us, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” KeWee is living proof that reclaiming power begins with healing.
Alex
Alex Muhammad (she/her) works as the Co-Founder of the Mass Liberation Project. The Mass Liberation Project is an Abolitionist National Organization that serves as a political home for personal transformation, training, coaching, healing and analysis development for Black Organizers who are directly impacted by systems of oppression and incarceration.
A directly impacted, Southside Chicago native, Alex was born to Dena Hornsberry and Imam W. D. Muhammad II. As the great granddaughter of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, she was raised in a close community of Black Muslims. From childhood, she spent her time outside of schooling working for the family business; W.D.M Publications and fundraising for The Mosque Cares Annual Saviors Day National Convening. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Alex began her career in organizing at SOUL in Chicago in partnership with The People's Lobby.
During her time at SOUL she led a team of 8 staff in registering 10,000 new black voters on the Southside of Chicago and recruited 3 new Black congregations into the SOUL organizational base. During her time as Lead Organizer at The People's Lobby, she led the Reclaim Chicago State’s Attorney Independent expenditure. Leading a team of 18 staff to turn out 300,000 votes in Cook County. Additionally, she led a 10 week governitorial field campaign which consisted of 187 canvassers per day.
As Co-founder of Mass Liberation Project Alex has help seed the creation of four new Black Directly Impacted Femme led Organizations across the county: Mass Lib Arizona, Michigan Liberation, Mass Lib Nevada, Life After Release (DMV). Alex has trained hundreds of emerging Black leaders and new organizers in movement on grassroots power building for formerly incarcerated loved ones and Abolition.